Children's Health (Pediatrics)

David Perlstein, MD, MBA, FAAP

Dr. Perlstein received his Medical Degree from the University of Cincinnati and then completed his internship and residency in pediatrics at The New York Hospital, Cornell medical Center in New York City. After serving an additional year as Chief Pediatric Resident, he worked as a private practitioner and then was appointed Director of Ambulatory Pediatrics at St. Barnabas Hospital in the Bronx.

William C. Shiel Jr., MD, FACP, FACR

Dr. Shiel received a Bachelor of Science degree with honors from the University of Notre Dame. There he was involved in research in radiation biology and received the Huisking Scholarship. After graduating from St. Louis University School of Medicine, he completed his Internal Medicine residency and Rheumatology fellowship at the University of California, Irvine. He is board-certified in Internal Medicine and Rheumatology.

Introduction

Children's health, or pediatrics,
focuses on the well-being of children from conception through adolescence. It is
vitally concerned with all aspects of children's growth and development and with
the unique opportunity that each child has to achieve their full potential as a
healthy adult.

Children's health was once a part of adult medicine. It
emerged in the 19th and early 20th century as a medical specialty because of the
gradual awareness that the health problems of children are different from those
of grown-ups. It was also recognized that a child's response to illness,
medications, and the environment depends upon the age of the child.

There are many aspects to children's health. Any organization of these aspects of
child health is necessarily arbitrary. For example, the topics could be
presented in alphabetical order. However, it seems most logical to start at the
beginning -- with the factors that determine a child's healthy growth and
development.

Children's growth and development

A healthy child's development actually begins before conception with the parents'
health and their genetic legacy. It continues on to conception and through the
prenatal period. During this time, there is naturally considerable overlap
between pediatric concerns for the fetus and obstetrical concerns for
the mother.

Once the baby is delivered, there are new and important matters to
ponder, such as breastfeeding, newborn screening tests and sleeping
safety. All too soon, there are health care appointments to be kept, for example, for
well-baby checkups and immunizations. These are followed by other
challenges, such as when to introduce solid foods and to start toilet training and when to see the dentist.

The field of pediatrics recognizes classic stages in growth and development,
but these are artificial since a child's growth and development constitute a
continuum. A baby changes at an astonishing rate during the newborn period and
early infancy. Before you know it, the baby becomes a toddler, next a child and,
after a little more than a decade, is already a teen. It is a busy, challenging
period.